Graduation
by half-note
Summary: It was his best friend's wedding and he wanted nothing but to stare at her and dwell on his own sorrow, while he babysat her sister, that is. Hyuuga Hanabi, however, has something else in mind. Inuzuka Kiba, on the other hand, is quite set on not letting her distract him. R
1. Chapter 1: Graduation - Kiba

_A/N: This is a scene part of an AU I'm still writing (a two part AU for the matter) but since I'm not exactly sure if I'll ever publish it or finish it and I'm quite in love with this scene.  
_

_Edit: decided on making it multi-chaptered after all, enjoy! _

_Characters: Hyuuga Hanabi, Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuuga Hinata_

_Summary: It was his best friend's wedding and he wanted nothing but to stare at her and dwell on his own __sorrow, while he babysat her sister, that is. Hyuuga Hanabi, however, has something else in mind. Inuzuka Kiba, on the other hand, is quite set on not letting her distract him. _

I own nothing.

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Chapter 1: Graduation

_"Has it ever occurred to you that you had fallen for the wrong Hyuuga?"_

* * *

He didn't know how it happened. Wait, no—that was a lie. He knew exactly how and why it had happened. She just happened to be an innocent, shy and harmless girl, once. A girl he warmed up to and thought he could help come out of her shell. He was just supposed to do that, help, but he fell in love instead. And time passed by and the girl became a woman; she transformed. And the small shy and harmless girl was no more, she was replaced by a fierce, determined although still innocent woman. He was happy for her. The flower bud blossomed and it wasn't because of him. He had slowly but surely became only a spectator of beauty and not its gardener as time flew by.

He regretted that. He regretted many things.

His eyes followed her petite figure with melancholy. He had seen her dance so many times in the past, but this particular dance, as she smiled the brightest most beautiful smile he had ever seen on her to her husband, happened to be her most elusive one and yet the most tragic.

"Stop looking at my sister that way, Inuzuka-san, it's gross," a sharp voice derailed him from his train of thought.

Inuzuka Kiba looked to his left and pointed his glass of whisky her way, "Watch that mouth of yours Hanabi-chan."

He had ended up with the not as exciting but sufficiently distracting task of keeping his friend's younger sister from steering trouble. If someone enjoyed looking for trouble it would be no other but Hyuuga Hanabi.

"Gross is a lame word, Kiba-san, I can cuss now, I'm an adult," she rolls her eyes at him dramatically.

"Not under my watch," his response is dry. He had no intention of letting himself be manipulated by a college student.

"I'll be turning 21 in two months," she spat foully, it was often that she was treated as kid, "I can even drink….from your glass," she added with a mischievous smile, her hand suddenly coming unusually close to his glass.

Kiba, accustomed to her antics, motioned the glass of whisky away from her expertly.

"You're not yet 21 and like I've said, not under my watch," he looked at her this time, his eyes blank in an attempt to quiet her down, he was most definately not in the mood for any of Hyuuga Hanabi usual games.

She sighed in defeat beside him, her arms crossed defensively over her chest, "you can't continue seeing me like kid."

"That's cause you're a kid," he stated frankly, "you sound like a kid, you speak like a kid, and most definitely act like a kid."

_And an imprudent kid, at that. _

Kiba knew he had said the wrong thing instantly. She confronted him head on, head tall and combative expression, ears bright red. He constantly forgot, Hanabi was taller than her sister, more so if she wore heels, with which she was almost as tall as him.

"I'm not a kid," her hand was on his chest, Kiba frowned at her.

_What had gotten into her?_

"Okay fine, I get it, you are not a kid, geez," he got her hand off him hastily, the contact made him uncomfortable. She looked too much like her sister. Even when she had a rounder face and brown hair, the eyes, the eyes were all Hinata. The lights illuminated her face prettily; if he looked down he would've noticed the long of her legs or the ampleness of her bosom. Definitely a woman.

Hanabi made a revolted face at his touch, "you thought of my oneesan, didn't you Kiba-san?"

He would've given everything not to have notice the accusation in her voice. She caught him off guard, he had not seen that question coming at all.

"Uh, maybe…" the flushing cheeks and the frown, it was all too similar to him, "you are both quite alike in some aspects," he sipped his glass of half-finished whiskey dismissively. His answer was disheartening to her, he knew.

The younger Hyuuga gave a heavy sigh as she slumped into the stool beside him. They were touching shoulders. He drank the rest of the whisky in a go and shook his head. He wasn't exactly good at managing his alcohol, despite his looks.

"You better not get drunk, Kiba-san," her voice is quieter, sullen.

Kiba gave her a quizzical look, who was she to order him around? And why did she have to suddenly sound so caring? Pfft. He didn't understand this woman, if any.

He ordered the bartender another go.

"I'll do what I want," he gave her a wolfish grin, he could sense himself relaxing after the alcohol, "May I recall you this is a free world, Hanabi-chan? Just as you are an adult, so am I," he winked at her and drank a healthy dose of liqueur.

She grunted at this.

"Getting drunk won't get you anywhere, you know? I thought adults like you knew such simple truth," she snarked.

"Aye, Aye!" he raised both his hands in defeat, a glass in one, "fuck, you are too smart for your own good," he shook his head.

"It hasn't really taken me far," she remarked unexcitedly.

"Not yet,"

He was sure Hanabi would make a name for herself one day. If anyone had guts it was her.

"Not yet," she repeated too slowly.

There was a pause.

"Kiba-san?"

"Hmmhmm?" he urged her to continue. The party was picking up and soon they would not be able to hear each other over the noise.

"I think we should look at this as a graduation of sorts," her head rested over her intertwined hands over the bar's counter, her face tilted to the side facing him.

He cocked an eyebrow her way baffled, "I thought we were at a wedding," he stated matter-of-factly. The Hyuuga rolled her eyes at him.

"Are you always so annoying, Kiba-san?" her voice expressed mirth, unlike her eyes.

"I'm afraid so, must be part of my charm," he joked. His spirits were picking up after all, if only barely.

"Won't deny that," she gave him a shy smile and he smiled back if not a little confused at such comment. The dark haired girl looked away shortly after.

He sneaked a glance at the dance floor then and bit into the rim of the glass, not strong enough to fear breaking it, but with enough hold to feel the tension on his teeth.

There were some seconds of silence, perhaps a minute.

"You do realize you've lost, haven't you?" her question was arid and straightforward. Kiba couldn't deny the fact that such comment was like lemon and salt poured over his fresh wound.

_So that's what it was all about, huh?_

"I don't really need your fucking pity, eh, Hanabi-chan?" he hadn't intend to curse but he did, "All the shit you're probably going to tell me I already know, geez, can't a dog just lick his wounds in peace?" he retorted sourly before drinking what was left of his drink in one motion. He could feel the hot liquid travel through his esophagus and a light pang.

Yes, he needed this feeling.

"I thought I wasn't supposed to listen to such cussing," the Hyuuga spat back, anger present in her voice.

"You're an adult now, you can handle, eh?"

He knew he wasn't being fair. He was being deliberately spiteful to someone undeserving, but she just kept gashing at his wounds and he was like a wild dog, he needed to howl and lash out at the pain.

"Am I really?" she asked softly.

The statement grabbed Kiba's attention. He turned to look at her, he needed to focus for longer than necessary, the drinks were starting to get to him.

"Am I really a woman to you, Kiba-san?" she pushed herself against him and he didn't know how to react. He felt her breasts press against his chest, he was slightly losing his mind to alcohol, and she smelled like a woman and felt like a woman.

He pushed her away.

"What are you doing, Hanabi? You are like a kid sister to me, what the hell has gotten into you, woman? Don't do that kind of thing to a drunken man!" he sounded desperate. He was losing it, he felt hot in parts he shouldn't and her flushed face with anger was making his brain go wild.

"Has it ever occurred to you that you had fallen for the wrong Hyuuga?" her hot words carried a feeling he couldn't quite place. At the same time, he wasn't exactly sure he had heard her correctly.

"Hanabi-chan, the hell?! What's the meaning of this? You're joking, right?" he was incredulous.

It all sounded so absurd he had to laugh. He laughed loudly and hollowly as he scratched the back of his head. Hanabi bit unto her lips with force at his reaction as she closed her hands into fists.

Her face was the reddest he had seen as she shouted at him, "You're an asshole, Kiba-san!" and without more ado, she ran towards the front door, rubicund and eyes to the brim with tears.

"Huh? Hey wait, Hanabi! What's going on?" he fumbled with his words weakly. He hadn't expected such response.

_What was that supposed to mean? Why the hell was she crying, for god's sake?!_

He feared she hadn't listened to him over the noise, so he went after her clumsily.

"Hanabi!" he shouted behind her.

By the time she reached the door, he could see a foul signal sent on his general direction composed by her delicate middle finger and a swift Shino exiting behind her, quick on her heels.

"The fuck?!" he hollered to no one in particular and he made his way back to the bar.

Today definitely wasn't his night. He was sick of them. All Hyuugas. Maybe Hanabi was right. It was a graduation night. Graduation from them and all the negative emotions that bristled inside of him whenever they were involved. He got himself another glass of whisky. He could still see her dancing with her husband, laughing happily into his arms.

Her sweet and gentle smile was not his.

He couldn't do it. Not today. He drank from his glass and slouched into his stool. He could sense the tears coming.

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A/N:

I had never written Kiba and Hanabi together before, but back when I first wrote this it just fit so naturally that the idea picked up from there. I also have never read any Kiba/Hanabi fanfiction or Kiba/Hinata before; this is my own portrayal, so I'm not sure if it's anywhere accurate to fanon's usual portrayal of them.

Does this mean I'm back at writing? Perhaps. I have improved somewhat as you can read, so I hope you have a more enjoyable time. It has been a while since I've been on this side of fandom tho.

As for the original piece of AU…well, I hope I get around continuing it soon… (?) I need all the encouragement possible. Just a XXI century Tokyo AU circling around our favorite characters. And real life being real life.

Wish me luck.

Would it be too much to ask you guys to drop a review? Be it constructive criticism or positive feedback, anything really. Don't hesitate!

P.S. Sorry for the spelling mistakes. If there are any, please notify me!

Half-note


	2. Chapter 2: We are young - Hanabi

I don't know what I'm doing. Seriously, not many people are reading this. Please, review? LOL

_Characters: Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuuga Hanabi, Konohamaru Sarutobi_

_Summary: It was his best friend's wedding and he wanted nothing but to stare at her and dwell on his own __sorrow, while he babysat her sister, that is. Hyuuga Hanabi, however, has something else in mind. Inuzuka Kiba, on the other hand, is quite set on not letting her distract him. _

I own nothing.

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Chapter 2: We are young

_Tonight, we are young._

* * *

What an asshole!

What an idiot!

_Kiba is is both an asshole and an idiot and I hate him. I hate him, I hate him, I hate him. Except that I don't. Not really. _

"You ran farther than I had anticipated," Hanabi recognized that voice all too well, why he had run after her, however, that was beyond her area of expertise.

"Shino-san," she never felt comfortable dropping the honorifics with him, "I hadn't noticed you running after me."

She tried to avoid looking at him in the eye, even when she couldn't quite see them behind his sun glasses. She looked quite a mess, as far as that she knew. The hair that had been neatly combed in a bun had become partially undone in her irate exit, her cheeks still felt hot and angry tears had travelled down her cheeks, positively ruining her mascara. She should've told the make-up artist to use water-proof, she should've known better. Pfft, I'm not crying at my sister's wedding, she had said. Of course she hadn't, her sister looked happy, but she had completely forgotten the fact that someone else's morose mood would undoubtedly ruin her night.

She had been such an idiot herself. Idiot. Idiot. Idiot.

"If you keep looking like that people are going to think we are fighting," once again his deep voice piped in. Hanabi had never felt so annoyed with him before than how she felt then.

She closed her hands into fists at her sides in an attempt to keep her anger in check.

"And I care because? Why did you even follow me anyway? Who do you think you are?" she looks at him with her patented hateful glare at full galore.

She knew she wasn't being fair, she didn't even particularly care for any of his answers either, but Shino was there and Kiba wasn't and she needed to redirect her anger. She just couldn't help herself. The Inuzuka was right, she was still a kid, and like most children she still had temper tantrums every once in a while.

The Aburame, on the other hand, looked as impassable as ever and that ticked her off. Didn't he have any intention to answer her? Sure, she wasn't interested on knowing but it would ha felt a lot less awkward if only he talked.

"Aren't you going to answer me?" she huffed at him in an accusatory tone.

"I wasn't aware I was required to answer Hanabi," he didn't use honorifics with her and that calmed her somewhat. She had been ready to pounce on him like a livid hyena had he not decided to take her seriously.

The Hyuuga put a strand of wandering hair behind her ear then in order to calm herself. She had made a complete fool out of herself out there, running out of the party shouting was the best she could've done to protect the last of her dignity, however. Knowing that fact didn't help matters with her Hyuuga pride, nevertheless.

On the other front, she had also caught Ino stealing glances their way all night. The gossiper! If her father heard anything on it she would not be able to live it down anytime soon. He had become a complete pain in the ass, constantly on her heels monitoring her behavior, the moment she had so bravely (stupidly) come forward to claim her sister's unwanted spot as future heir.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Hanabi, you are so stupid.

"I made a complete fool out of myself, didn't I?"

Yes, she still needed social reinforcement to assure her of the humiliation.

"Yes, not many noticed though," he answered seriously, the Hyuuga suspected that was supposed his personal way of giving a comforting answer, "I won't tell your sister," he added as an additional perk.

_Or father. _She hoped.

"She was totally expecting something like this, wasn't she?" she couldn't keep the sardonic tone from her voice.

"Perhaps."

They didn't even need to share names. She had never outright told her sister about her budding feelings for her best friend, but Hinata being the highly receptive sister that she was probably suspected and effectively worried about her. She couldn't really blame her, though; she wasn't passive like her, more on the contrary, she was quite impatient and imprudent, traits that probably made her sister worry even more. She knew her sister had good intentions, but the fact that Hinata was probably intending to shield her from a heart break didn't comfort her. Hanabi wasn't the kind of person that enjoyed being the damsel in distress and having her fights fought for her. It was quite disheartening she wasn't even been allowed a chance.

"That's so like Hinata," she sighed into her sister's name, "Geez, I can take care of myself," she stated matter-of-factly before crossing her arms over her chest as if to prove her point. Shino looked at her unimpressed.

"I'm sure you can." His voice was not sarcastic, or at least it didn't seem so to her, an observation she couldn't quite count on. She had a certain degree of tone-deafness whenever it came to her sister's quietest friend.

There was an uncomfortable silence after that and Hanabi couldn't help but look over the Aburame's shoulder. A part of her, a very stupid and childish part of her, kind of hoped for Kiba to stand there looking at her with a longing stare or for him to have been the one to run after her but he hadn't and it bothered her more than she was willing to let on.

"He is not coming and you know that," his voice pierced through her thoughts, it was almost as if he had read her mind.

"I know," saying those words hurt her more than she had anticipated. She had hoped that once he saw her sister married off he wouldn't have doubted to look her way.

Hanabi looked at Shino straight in the eye then and was temporarily tempted to take the sun glasses from his face. Perhaps, that way she would be able to tell what he was thinking and gain an insight into how he could so easily read her.

It was almost as if they were opposites, Kiba and him. One was loud the other one quiet, one was unperceptive the other observant, one did not run after her while the other did, whatever his reasons were. She was grateful.

"Hanabi! There you are!"

She felt a masculine hand on her shoulder and for a fraction of a second her heart skipped a beat until the realization that it was not the hand she had been waiting for dawned on her.

"Konohamaru-kun, hi," the Hyuuga greeted awkwardly. Her hands tried to scrub away any make-up blemishes left with her hands quite unsuccessfully. The last thing she needed was yet another male sticking his nose into her business. That and the fact that it was, in fact, her sister's fairytale wedding and she happened to look like a shikome made her feel self-conscious.

What a mess. _Just like she had predicted, perfect. Just perfect!_

"I saw you run out of the hall and followed after you but I didn't find you so I had to look around and …" his voice trailed off the moment he noticed she had company. Shino was standing in front of her as expressionless as ever.

Konohamaru exchanged glances between the two trying to put two and two together, his eyebrows knitted in bewilderment.

"Did this jerk make you cry?" the young heir stepped forward, a protective hand in front of her as he said this. It seemed he had just noticed her current state of affairs too. Shino at 6'2 was considerably taller than him, nonetheless, and that sole fact made the scene particularly endearing to her.

"No, he didn't," Hanabi lowered his hand calmly, "he is just being a good…friend." There was a brief pause but she settled for the word anyway, a thankful smile gracing her features. Shino nodded back at her with what she suspected might be acceptance. That idea made her smile grow fonder.

Konohamaru exchanged suspicious glances between them again before finally deciding that to accept her word for it was a better strategic course of action, his shoulders however, remained tense and squared as if at any given moment he would be required to fight for her.

"If you excuse me," The Aburame probably felt that was his cue to leave as he vowed at them before turning his back and making his way back towards the party. He, undoubtedly, had a drunken friend waiting for his assistance.

"Thanks, Shino-san!" Hanabi shouted after him, at which he raised his hand to her in dismissal before disappearing behind a wall.

She may not have known what his intentions were but Shino had been there for her when she needed it, and that was something she was not going to forget soon. Unlike a certain someone she vehemently wanted to forget with alcohol.

"So why are you here?" the Hyuuga resolved on placing her hands over her hips in an attempt to appear on control. It wasn't often that she'd so willingly show signs of weakness to others, much less publicly.

"Oh, I…I guess I was invited to the wedding too," Konohamaru Sarutobi avoided her eye as he scratched the back of his neck.

It looked as if he had suddenly lost the nerve once they were left alone. Hanabi smiled at this, she was more than aware of the budding crush the older male had been harboring on her for the last couple of months. Accompanied with the fact that she hadn't exactly made a clear stance against his advances, she couldn't say she was surprised to find him there. What could she say? She quite liked the attention, and even her eyes could not deny the fact that he looked incredibly attractive in a tux.

Ahhh.

"I thought you were looking for me," she feigned hurt. She was also quite aware of what she was doing, but at this point and so far into the night she didn't have it in her to care.

She could listen to her sister's admonishment later and hope for her father not to find out. She knew all of his long drawls on morals like the back of her hand and she wasn't particularly interested on listening to a repeat.

A light blush spread through his cheeks at that, "Ah, I guess…I kind of was, yeah."

She had to accept that if it weren't because her heart was settled somewhere else, she might have reconsidered giving him a real chance.

"Do you wanna go? I don't feel like being here anymore," she looked at him square in the eye without hesitation as she said this. She could also notice how his eye grew wide at her possible implication.

Boys will be boys; her cousin had told her that once.

"S-sure," he accepted perhaps too readily, at which Hanabi's grin grew fierce with anticipation.

"Let's go then," she grasped onto the hem of his sleeve loosely as she led him out of the building, and out of the pepping sight of their acquaintances.

The night was young and so were they. It was time to burn.

* * *

_Notes:_

_1. Shikome, literally means: "ugly woman of the underworld". In Japanese mythology, she was a hag (actually 8 hags) sent by the dead Izanami to pursue her husband Izanagi, for shaming her by breaking promise not to see her in her decayed form in the Underworld. Thought a bit of Japanese mythology would be fitting, Kishimoto likes that._

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A/N:

Oho. Yes, I just did that. Yes, I no longer know where this will be going. Yes, people are going to be hurt during this fic, let's just hope the ride is still as enjoyable as possible.

So please enjoy? I'm also crossing my fingers and wishing for this to write itself, but you guys can still cheer for your favorite outcome. I'll try not to take sides and just let the characters decide. We'll see what happens!

The updates might be often or not so often, it will entirely depend on my mood as this will now be my own "feel good fic", mainly something I'll write whenever I feel like writing it (most often than not to distract myself). So if interested, it would be a good idea to alert it in case I forget about it for weeks. Next chapter will be around the corner though as I've already written part of its dialogue. Yay, go me.

Also, I'm not adamant about reviews but hearing from you guys might be nice. So I get more motivation, maybe... Be it constructive criticism or positive feedback, anything really. Don't hesitate!

I don't have a beta yet, so if there are any mistakes please forgive me! (And notify me if you can!)

Writing for you later,

Half-note


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